High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Las Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the capital and the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 381,123 in 2008. Nearly half of the people of the island and nearly 1/5 of all inhabitants of the Canary Islands lives in this city. It is also the fifth most populous urban area in Spain with a population of around 700,000 and ninth or tenth most populous metropolitan area in Spain with a population of 625,892, 640,000 or 741,826. Las Palmas is the largest city of the European Union outside Europe. Located in the northeast of the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, about 150 kilometers off the northwestern coast of Africa within the Atlantic Ocean. Las Palmas enjoy a Subtropical climate, season with the summer temperatures lasts throughout the year. According to a study carried out by Thomas Whitmore, director of research on climatology at Syracuse University in United States, Las Palmas enjoys "the best climate in the world".